Tigers formally arrived in the big time, with an outstanding display against one of the top teams in the country. The win away to Leopards last week made the front page on England Basketball's web-site, but the scare the ‘home-grown’ youngsters gave Sheffield, who include American Superstars Rankine and Brevard in their roster, confirmed them as a genuine Division 1 Club.
When the Tigers opened-up a 13 – 6 lead after 4 minutes of play, the crowd knew they were in for a special game. Rankine (30 points) and Brevard (28 points) were always a constant quality source of points for the visiting Arrows and they were well supported by Martin (20 points). Whilst Rankine hurt the Tigers from the outside, Brevard dominated inside — regularly dunking over the under-sized Tigers. With big guys Tad Gray and Kev Anderson out through injury, rookie Adam Rickwood and veteran Graham Jones were pulled-in to secure the boards for the Tigers and it was only four successive threes by the Arrows at the end of the first quarter that enabled them to peg-back the difference. An un-answered 10 point run by the Arrows reversed the lead to make it 37 – 47 with two minutes to go before the mid-game break.
Despite unusually poor outside shooting and missed easy lay-ups from the normally reliable Tigers, their team play with good ball and player movement continued to generate the baskets. This strong team platform allowed MVP Paul Yabsley the opportunity to show his full offensive repertoire to complement his defence. The Tigers shooting-guard, dominated the game for long periods and his game high 34 points alone did not do justice to the extent of the contribution he made to Taunton's performance.
The Tigers came back strongly in the third to end the quarter and re-establish a slender 1 point lead, finishing ahead at 70 – 69.
At 83 – 83 with 4 minutes remaining it was still anyone's game, but for the first time (in the game) intense defence dominated the closing minutes. The extra experience of the visitors just tipped the balance in their favour which enabled them to run-out winners by 4 points.